Vibrating apparatus for the feeding chutes of concrete mixers



April 16, 1946. G. M. MURPHY VIBRATING APPARATUS FOR THE FEEDING CHUTES OF CONCRETE MIXERS Filed Jan. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet lswam/tom -April 16, 1946. G. M. MURPHY 2,398,549

VIBRATING APPARATUS FDR THE FEEDING CHUTES 0F CONCRETE MIXERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i i A Patented Apr. 16, 1946 VIBRATING APPARATUS FOR THE FEEDING CH'UTES OF CONCRETE. MIXERS George M. Murphy, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jaeger Machine Company,

Columbus, 7

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 22, 1945, Serial No. 573,842

3 Claims. (or; 259-164) y This invention relates to" concrete mixers and,

more particularly, to that type of mixer having I to overcome this condition, the operators of the mixer frequently strike the chute or trough with percussion instruments to impart vibratory forces thereto for loosening the adhering aggregates, a practice which often results in denting and structurally injuring the chute.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present in vention to provide means, substantially automatic in operation, for vibrating the stationarily mounted chute or trough of such a mixer in a manner to insure the proper flow of aggregate forming materials into the rotatable drum of the mixer, whereby to preclude such adherence of materials to the wall surfaces of the chute in amount sufiicient to interfere with the desired passage of the materials through the chute.

It is another object of the invention to provide automatic chute-vibrating means for concrete mixers in which the vibrating mechanism becomes operative or active when the associated flow-controlling gate of the chute is raised to provide for aggregate fiow from said chute into the mixing drum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chute-vibrating means for concrete mixers of simple construction and one which is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and more eflicient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the'invention consists in the novel features of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like r reference characters designate like parts in all the views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a concrete mixer with the chute-vibrating mechanism'comprising the invention applied thereto;

taken through the mixer on the plane Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; r

Fig. 315 a detail horizontal sectionalview showing the discharge end of the feeding chute and the mix-receiving end of'the mixing drum, the plane of the figure being indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig.2; I

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view on the plane indicated by the line 44 of Fig, 5 and disclosing the cam-actuated lever system for imparting vibratory movement to the feeding chute;

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical longitudinal sectional view on the plane disclosed by the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; a Y

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the pivotally related lever members of the chute-vibrating mechanism.

Referringmore particularly to the drawings, my improved chute-vibrating mechanism has I been shown asapplied to a conventional type of concrete mixer, embodying a frame l0, provided atone endwith an axle H carrying ground-engaging wheels I2. Mounted on this'frame is a rotatable mixing drum [3; the latter being supported by the usual cradle rolls M. The drum is rotated by being provided with an external gear ring l5, which meshes with a pinion l6 provided on a drive shaft H, the latter being rotatably supported by the frame H! in longitudinal relationship therewith.

At the end of the frame, opposite to that occupied by the wheels [2, the same is provided with one or more rigidly depending ground-engaging legs [8, which impart stability to the mixer when the same is stationarily positioned for operation. Adjacent to these legs, the frame is provided with a draft tongue IS, the rear end of which is pivotaily supported in connection with a stationary bracket 20 depending from the frame It. The

such as an internal combustion engine, not

shown, and which may be suitably carried by the frame- ID} or which may be separately mounted.

Arising from the frame It! and surrounding the drum i8 is a substantially vertical supplemental frame structure 24, the latterincluding a pair of spaced, parallel verticallydisposed angle memdrum l3, as shown in Fig. 2. The substantially vertical rear face of the chute lies adjacent-to and in parallelism with the angle members 25 and is equipped with a pair of stationary brackets 29 provided with laterally extending pins 30, the latter being received Within elongated slots 3| formed in the angle members 25, whereby the chute is pivotally united with the angle members but is capable of limited vertical movement with respect thereto.

The vertical back wall of. the chute is equipped withguides 32 in which is slidably mounted a flow-controlling gate 33', the latter being adapted to be raised and lowered to regulate the outflow of an aggregate from the chute into the mixing "drum. To raise and lower the gate, the latter is pivotally connected with the lower end of a link 34, the upper end of the link being pivotally connected withtheiinner end of a gate-operating .lever 35; This lever is pivotally mounted as at i 36 on one of the angular members 25 and projects outwardly and laterally therefrom, terminating in.a curved hand-engaging extremity 31. d

When the lever occupies the full line position, disclosed in Fig. 2, the gate is in its lowered or flow-obstructing position. However, when the lever is' oscillated to assume the position disclosed by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the gate is moved upwardly, assuming a position providing for the flow'of aggregates into the mixing drum. The

lever may be retained in its gate-elevating'position by being engaged with a shouldered projectermediate portion of this link being formed to include a'turn-buckle construction 4| by means of Which its effective length may be regulated. The lower end of the link is pivotally connected as at 42 with the outer end of a bifurcated cam lever 43,;the latter being of bell-crank formation, the shorter arm 43 a of the lever 43 being rounded for engagementwith a stationary shelf 44 of a cam-lever bracket 45, the latter being stationarily carried by the frame Ill. The lever 43 carries a pivot pin 46, the ends of which are received within vertical slots 41 provided in the opposite vertical side walls of the bracket 45. Also turnable about the pin .45 is a shaker arm 48, the latter being disposed between the, bifurcated portions of the cam lever 43.

The inner end of the arm 48 is pivotally joined as at 49 with thelower bifurcated end of a link 50. The upper bifurcated end of this link, which is disposed in a planeat right angles to that of its lower portion, is pivotally joined by a pin 5| with an ear 52 rigidly carried by and depending from the lower portion of the chute or trough 26. On one end of the drive shaft l1, there is mounted a rotatable cam 53 which is adapted to engage and oscillate the outer endof the shaker the chute orarm 48 when the gate 33 occupies its elevated position.

In the operation of this mechanism, it will be evident that when the drum I3 is being rotated by the operation of the drive shaft l1, and with aggregate contained in the trough or chute 26,

the oscillation of the lever 35ina downward .direction will result in .the elevation'gof' the gate 33 and consequent flow of the aggregate into the drum Where the mixing thereof takes place in the usual manner.

Simultaneously with the downward movement of the lever 35, upward movement will be imparted to the link 40, which oscillates the cam lever 43, causingithe shorter arm 43a thereof to engage the shelf and thereby lift the cam lever 48 and its pivot'pin 46, such lifting movement being provided by the slots 41 in the side walls of the bracket 45. This elevation of the pivot pin carries with it the shaker arm 48, bringing the outer end thereof into contact with the revolving cam 43 which is mounted on .the rotating shaft il The-resulting oscillation of the arm 68, by reason of its contact with the outer surfaces of the cam 53, imparts vibratory movement to the chute or trough 23, such movement being made possible by the bracket pins 3?] of said chute which are received inthe slots 3| of the supplemental frame members 25. Thus, in addition to gravity flow,the passage of aggregate through the chute or trough is positively attained by vibration, so that an assured flow of the mix-forming materials is secured.

It, will be observed that the apparatus is essentially simple in'eonstruction and, moreover, is positive, efiicient and reliable, the vibrating mechanism being rendered active or inactive through the mere manipulation ofthe gate-controlling lever 35.

While I have shown the cam 53 as being mounted on one end of the drive shaft ll, it will .be understood that any other suitable drive mechanism may be used for operating the cam if higher or'lower rotational speeds may be found to be desirable.

I claim:

1. A concrete mixer of the type having a rotatable drum anda relatively stationarily mounted chute for feeding mix-forming materials into said drum, the discharge end of the chute" being provided with a movable flow-regulating gate opened or closed by a manually operated lever, means for vibrating said chute when said gate occupies its open position, said means comprising a cam lever, means linking the cam lever" with said gate-operating lever, a stationary support with which said cam lever is pivotally connected for limited vertical movement in addition to pivotal rocking movement, a shaker arm pivotally movable about the axis of rocking movement of said cam lever, a rotatable power driven cam adapted for engagement with said shaker arm to oscillate the latter when said gate occupies its open position, and means pivotally uniting said shaker arm with said chute.

. *2. In a concrete mixer, a rotatable mixing lever-the lever means for operating said-gate,

a vibratory arm pivotally carried by said support 3. In a concrete mixer, a frame structure, a drum rotatably supported by said frame structure, said drum having an open end, a downwardly inclined chute for feeding mix-forming materials into the open end of said chute, means for supporting said chute on said frame structure,

said means admitting of limited reciprocatory said chute.

movement of the chute relative to the frame structure, an oscillatory arm pivotally mounted on said frame structure for limited linear movement with respect thereto, a power driven rotatable cam normally spaced from said arm,

means pivotally uniting said arm with said chute, and manually operated means for moving said arm linearly relative to said frame, whereby to bring the arm into contacting engagement with said cam and through the oscillation of said arm to impart limited reciprocatory movement to GEORGE M. MURPHY. 

